Bears Score Early, Fall To River Hawks

LOWELL, Mass. – The Cal field hockey team scored early but could not add to their total as host UMass-Lowell defeated the visiting Golden Bears 4-1 on Friday afternoon at Wicked Blue Field in Lowell, Mass.

UMass-Lowell (12-5, 6-2 AE) outshot the Bears 24-9 and had a 9-2 advantage on penalty corners. Cal (4-10, 3-4 AE) scored its sixth goal first quarter goal of the season, but that was all they would muster as the Red Hawks kept the Bears' offense mostly quiet.

"Good first quarter, really good fourth quarter, the second and third quarters were disappointing," said the Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey Shellie Onstead. "It took us to the fourth to get going. We talked a lot after the game about how time is ticking away and that we are a better team than that. We missed our opportunity today."

Kiki de Bruijne scored the lone goal of the day for the Bears off the assist from Sara Stone. The goal was de Bruijne's fourth of the year, a new career-high. It also came in a wild opening period that saw the two teams score three times in a minute and seven seconds.

Senior keeper Cato Knipping had a busy afternoon, finishing the day with seven saves. Six of her saves came in the opening half. She now has 80 saves on the year, a new career-best. The 80 saves give her 245 for her brilliant career.

The first-period scoring frenzy began at the 7:37 mark when UMass-Lowell scored the game's opening salvo on a penalty stroke by Jenna Berger.

Twenty seconds later the Bears got even on the goal by de Bruijne. The game did not stay tied for long as Berger put the River Hawks back out front on her ninth goal of the season forty seconds later. 

The Red Hawks weren't finished. Just seconds before the end of the first, Kate Miller scored the game's third goal, giving UML a two-goal advantage heading into the second quarter.

"I was optimistic after that penalty stroke, we came down and scored right away and I thought it was going to be a barn burner but we kind of hit a lull in the second and third quarters. It was a positive finish and that is all we will focus on in the fourth quarter, and we will just focus on the next game," added Onstead.

Coming out of the break, the River Hawks had the momentum early. Three-straight penalty corners yielded no goals but saw two shots bounce off the iron. In the 35th minute, UML got its fourth goal of the game when Miller scored her second of the game.

In the fourth, the Bears put two more shots on goal but could not find the back of the cage.

UP NEXT
Cal will play its final regular season game on Sunday when the Bears travel to Burlington, VT to take on Vermont. The game is slated for a 9:00 a.m. PT start time and will feature live stats and video which can be accessed on the Cal field hockey schedule page.
 
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